Margaret’s Persuasion Coach Blog
Getting Across to “the Other Side”
A few days ago, I read about a little boy who got a pet dog when he was one year old. The boy is now ten. The dog recently died, and as anyone might imagine, the little boy suffered greatly from the loss of his best friend. The boy and his father are both Green Bay...
One Small Step Toward Persuasive Communication
The book Counterclockwise focuses on health, but its principles also apply to many other aspects of life. Author Ellen J. Langer suggests taking “one small step” toward a health goal conventional wisdom might tell you is unattainable. She's right. My cousin was...
Resolution: Keep a Positivity Jar
By now, you all know the importance of a positive outlook when seeking consensus with another person or just communicating on a potentially touchy subject. A positive attitude about life in general spills over into our expectations as we enter an important...
Seasons Greetings 2014
I’m just about to shut down work and turn to preparing for and enjoying the Christmas to New Year’s break. Yesterday the supermarket was crowded but everyone seemed especially polite, patient and friendly. My wish for all my blog readers is that you enjoy both giving...
Become a Balcony Expert
In a New York Times article titled “A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day,” John Tierney wrote: Thanksgiving may be the holiday from hell for nutritionists, and it produces plenty of war stories for psychiatrists dealing with drunken family meltdowns. But it has...
Sample from “Love on the Rocks–with a Twist”
As promised in my last post, here's a small sample from my upcoming book, Love on the Rocks--with a Twist. "Dinner Date" is the only poem in the anthology. After the poem itself, you'll find study notes about the communication skills, or lack thereof, demonstrated by...
A Problem-Solving Anthology
My trainees and readers know that a core concept of interest-driven (or win-win) persuasion, consensus building and negotiation is the shift from either-or thinking to a habit of looking for third, fourth or fifth options. Often, this means shifting from either-or...
Secrets of Great Communicators
Several years ago, I attended an awards banquet for engineers. One of the presenters opened with a riddle: Q: How do you tell an extroverted engineer from an introverted engineer? A: The extroverted engineer looks at your feet when he's talking to you. Now, as Jay...
A Persuasive Police Detective
I like TV detective shows. I like them so much that I am willing to ignore the many unrealistic details. CSI and its offshoots feature technology many big city police departments can only dream about. Even on the low-tech level, TV detectives find usable fingerprints...
Communication Caveat—Finger Pointing
Communication Caveat—Finger Pointing It is sometimes said that, “The best defense is a good offense.” Turning this around, what does it mean when a person goes on the offense in his communications by pointing the finger at others? He may be trying to divert attention...